Lord Rooker: The figures for National Scrapie Plan programme expenditure (that is, not including staff, information technology and capital costs) are set out in the table below:
	
		
			 Year 2001-2 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 * 2007-8 # 
			 £m 4.49 6.55 7.70 20.63 29.64 16.31 15.59 
			 * Estimate at December 2006# Current allocation for 2007-08

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In respect of the proposed Cambridge guided busway (a) what signalling system is to be used to ensure safety at road, footpath and other crossings and between buses on the guided sections; (b) which authority will approve the safety systems proposed; (c) which authority is responsible for investigating accidents on the busway; (d) what fencing requirements there are to prevent trespass or animal incursion onto the guided sections; (e) which vehicle construction, use and approval regulations apply to the guided buses; and (f) which services are required to be diverted to avoid the guided busway sections running over them.

Lord Rooker: The table below shows the average household purchases of cheese per person per day, week and year. These estimates are based on records of consumer purchases from the expenditure and food survey.
	
		
			  2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 
			  Average household purchases of cheese per person in grams 
			 Daily 16 16 16 16 
			 Weekly 112 112 113 110 
			 Annually 5833 5807 5868 5720 
		
	
	Estimates of weekly purchases in 2005-06 will be published on 18 January at http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/efs/defauIt.asp

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government are committed to reforming the law of corruption. Our aim is to replace the existing provisions, which are spread across a number of statutes and the common law, with effective up to date bribery offences which command wide consensus and are easy to understand but sophisticated enough to differentiate between bribery and the legitimate giving and receiving of advantages.
	In 2003, based on work undertaken by the Law Commission, we introduced a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. The Joint Committee which gave the Bill its pre-legislative scrutiny raised significant issues and recommended a different approach to the formulation of the offences.
	We looked very carefully at the Joint Committee's recommendations. Following our response to its report in December 2003, we published a consultation paper in December 2005 setting out further options for reform. We are currently finalising the Government's response to all the comments received and will publish this shortly.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government's national delivery plan for domestic violence sets out a strategic framework for tackling domestic violence, ranging from early intervention and prevention through to the rehabilitation of perpetrators and resettlement of victims.
	At the heart of the plan is the development of specialist domestic violence courts (SDVCs). We have introduced a system which puts victims' needs at the heart of proceedings and created a catalyst for the better co-ordination of services locally. The programme is being rolled out successfully and64 court systems will be in place by April 2007.
	Pivotal to the success of SDVCs are independent domestic violence advisers (IDVAs). IDVAs work from the point of crisis with a victim and offer intensive support to help assure both their short term and long term safety. In 2006-07, the Government supported the development of IDVAs in all SDVC areas.
	Multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) are a recently developed tool for tackling domestic violence. MARACs usually focus on high-risk victims of domestic violence by sharing information and developing responses which are tailored to the needs of individual victims and their children. A MARAC training package, based on an evaluated model in Cardiff, has been developed, and the Government have commenced the roll-out of training in SDVC areas.
	By working to respond effectively to reported domestic violence and reduce the impact of domestic violence, we aim to reduce the economic and social costs of domestic violence.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: In the coming months we will be publishing a national action plan on sexual violence and abuse, which will include a range of key actions for the police and the CPS aimed at improving the investigation and prosecution of serious sexual offences.
	The available information relates to offences of rape recorded by the police in England and Wales and is given in the first table.
	Figures for the number of persons charged are not centrally collected.
	Figures from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for the prosecutions and convictions for rape offences in England and Wales are shown in the second table.
	Because recorded crime figures are for offences and court proceedings data count offenders, the two sets of data are not directly comparable.
	Information for Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Office.
	
		
			 Number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts, for all rape offences, in England and Wales, 2003-2005(1)(2) 
			 Year Proceeded against Found guilty 
			 2003 2,790 673 
			 2004 2,689 751 
			 2005 2,826 796 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. 
			 (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by court and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			 Offences of rape recorded by the police in England and Wales 
			 Number of offences 
			 Year Total 
			 2003-04 13,272 
			 2004-05 14,042 
			 2005-06 14,449

Lord Bassam of Brighton: I refer the noble Baroness to the answer my right honourable friend the Prime Minister gave to my right honourable friend the Member for Manchester Gorton(Sir Gerald Kaufman), in another place on Thursday 14 December 2006, Official Report, cols. 1287-1288W.

Lord Rooker: This Government are strongly supportive of organic food and will remain so, not least for its biodiversity benefits. We place significant value on the contribution made by organic production towardour sustainability objectives. We have provided considerable support to the organic sector in financial aid to organic farmers and through the organic action plan.

Baroness Andrews: Information about English local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is collected by Communities and Local Government in respect of households (rather than people) at local authority level and on a quarterly basis. The department does not hold statistics for the devolved administrations.
	Households that are accepted by English local authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need are owed a main homelessness duty by the local authority. Figures for 1995, 2000 and 2005 are provided for England in the table below.
	The duty owed to a household accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
	
		
			 Applicant households found to be unintentionally homeless and in priority need (i.e. accepted as owed a main homelessness duty)- England 
			 1995 117,490 
			 2000 111,340 
			 2005 (P) 100,170 
			 Note- (P) Provisional data 
		
	
	Other applicant households are found by the local authority to be homeless (some of which may be unintentionally so) but not in priority need, in which case a main homelessness duty is not owed. These are not included in the table.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: Bottled water purchased by the House of Lords is sold for profit in the House's refreshment outlets and provided free of charge in committee and meeting rooms. Water sold in the refreshment outlets is available in 33c1 and 75cl bottles. Water provided in committee and meeting rooms is available in 75cl bottles.
	The number of bottles purchased during the past three years is as follows:
	
		
			  For sale in refreshment outlets Provided free of charge in committee and meeting rooms TOTAL 
			  33cl 75cl 75cl 33cl + 75cl 
			 2004 2280 23700 9360 35340 
			 2005 1776 19500 9768 31044 
			 2006 2424 19020 9360 30804

Baroness Andrews: Population statistics for local authorities in England, including the non-metropolitan unitary authorities, are available from the Office for National Statistics website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D9394.xls.
	Details of the electorate in each local authority area are also available from its website at http://www.statistics. gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8887.xls.
	Information on the latest comprehensive performance assessment ranking of each authority is available from the Audit Commission website at http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/cpa/index.asp?page=index.asp&area=hpcpa.